Resolution on the Tree Protection Ordinance and the Climate Emergency

WHEREAS the climate scientists represented in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have made clear that what humans do in the next 11-12 years will determine if we and our planet’s unique biodiversity survive, and the County has passed a Resolution acknowledging the Climate Emergency (September 2019); and

WHEREAS trees, woodlands, and forest offer one of the best means by which we take carbon out of the atmosphere and keep it stored in the ground and trees grow relatively slowly; and according to William Moomaw, doctor of physical chemistry at M.I.T. and author of five IPCC reports, “Standing forests are the only proven system that can remove and store vast amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at the scale necessary to keep global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius this century. It is therefore essential to not only prevent further emissions from fossil fuels, deforestation, forest degradation, and bioenergy, but also to expand our forests’ capacity to remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it long-term. If we halted deforestation, protected existing forests, and expanded and restored degraded forests, we could reduce annual emissions by 75 percent in the next half a century;” and

WHEREAS there is currently a request before the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors to pass a temporary “time out” on significant “county-approved” permits and applications (not including fire safe efforts occurring around individual homes and cities) that propose to remove trees in large numbers;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED the Sonoma County Democratic Party urges the County Board of Supervisors to take the next logical step before the end of the year and call for a temporary “time out” on significant tree removal proposals until such time as the update of the Tree Protection Ordinance is completed.

Resolution adopted by the Sonoma County Democratic Party on November 12, 2019